Compare and Contrast 'The Speckled Band' by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, which was written in the late 19th century, and 'Lamb to the Slaughter' by Roald Dahl, which was written in the 20th century.
Compare and Contrast The Speckled Band by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, which was written in the late 19th century, and Lamb to the Slaughter by Roald Dahl, which was written in the 20th century are both detective stories in which readers have different expectations of them. This essay will compare and contrast the two. Dr Watson, who is the detective's companion, narrates the 'Speckled Band'. The story is about the mysterious death of a young woman, Julia Stoner, stepdaughter of Dr Grimesby Roylott. The mysterious thing about the death was that there was no mark on the body and so the death was unexplained. The victim's twin-sister, Helen Stoner, comes to Sherlock Holmes seeking help and answers to the cause of her sister's death. She firstly tells Holmes about her stepfather's life and violence and then about her sister's extraordinary death and fears the same fate since she has to move to the room Julia died. They arrange to meet in Helen's old mansion where Holmes and Watson inspect the room in which Julia died. There they spend a tense, nerve racking and an anxious night investigating the mystery. 'Lamb to the Slaughter' is narrated in third person. It is about the death of a detective called Patrick Maloney, husband of Mary Maloney. Patrick comes home from work and is tired so he sits down. Patrick's wife Mary who is 6 months pregnant hassles Patrick and insists on eating
Discuss the extent to which the characters and setting in Lambs to the Slaughter and the Speckled Band are typical of a horror story.
Discuss the extent to which the characters and setting in Lambs to the Slaughter and the Speckled Band are typical of a horror story. In defining horror stories it is possible to suggest that they include elements showing a fear of some thing or someone. Stereotypically they include victims, murders, detectives, gruesome scenes and twists in the plot. All of these factors usually add up to a successful horror story which shall leave the reader on the edge of their seat. However there are many different horror genres such as comic, gothic, mystical including witches and ghosts and psychological . In this case we are dealing with only one strand and it can be identified as murder-mystery horror. As we come up to the times twentieth and twenty-first century films include twists in the plot where possible for originality. Thus because people in these centuries have literally become immune to the gory and bloody effects of the horror and therefore want more out of it to interest them psychologically. The villain in Lambs to the Slaughter , Mary Maloney is very clear right from the start that she committed the murder. This is more psychological seeing as the reader is given the chance to think more about her character. However, the villain is not revealed until the end of the Speckled Band and this may lead the reader into feeling some fear and
How does Roal Dahl create unease and tension in 'The Landlady'
How does Roal Dahl create unease and tension in the story "The Landlady" In this essay I am going to discuss how Dahl uses language, characters, and objects to create tension and unease in the story "The Landlady". The story begins by describing a long train journey taken by Billy Weaver. When he arrived "it was about nine o clock in the evening and the moon was coming up out of a clear starry sky". The fact that it is night and the moon is up over a starry night, gives the town an eerie sense to it, as if it's a special night, and a night where something is going to happen. Also the fact that it is night-time suggests that there are going to be few people on the streets. "The air was deadly cold and the wind was like a flat blade of ice on his cheeks". This sentence adds deeper atmosphere to the town, as it wasn't just cold, but "deadly" cold. The blade of ice, suggests something harmful, dangerous might happen to him. "He had never been to Bath before". "Billy was seventeen" He is unfamiliar of the area, a foreigner, and therefore might be prone to be misled or misguided. The fact that he is relatively young and inexperienced might add to the chance of being misled. Because he is so young, he seems quite an innocent figure in the story. "a line of tall houses on each side, all of them identical". "the handsome façades were cracked and blotchy". This town seems
Comparison of ‘Lamb To the Slaughter’ By Roald Dahl and ‘the Signalman’ By Charles Dickens.
Comparison of 'Lamb to the Slaughter' by Roald Dahl And 'The Signalman' by Charles Dickens. Roald Dahl was a British novelist who is still famous today. He was a writer of short stories, film scripts, and was best known for writing children's books. Roald Dahl was born in 1916 to Norwegian parents in Llandaff, Wales and educated at Repton - a boarding school for boys. He died in 1990 after living a life of many great experiences. Dahl enlisted the Royal Air Force at the start of World War II and first served as a fighter pilot, but was involved in a plane crash in 1942 and from then on worked in the British Embassy in Washington D.C. as Assistant Air Attaché until 1945. While in the United States, he published stories of his flying experiences and adventures in the 'Saturday Evening Post' and he wrote his first children's book, 'The Gremlins' in 1943. He died on November 23rd 1990 and was buried opposite his home, Gipsy House, at Great Misseden, England. He spent his childhood summers with his Norwegian relatives, who are reportedly good storytellers. He wrote 'Lamb to the Slaughter' in 1954, which means that the hanging sentence was still in progress at the time. Also, at this day in age, women were considered only as housewives. Roald Dahl didn't agree with stereotypes and liked his stories to have an unexpected twist to them, because his auntie always told him stories
In Lamb to the Slaughter and The Speckled Band how do the writers explore the genre of the murder mystery story? To what extent is each story a reflection of the society in which it was written?
Nick Watkinson In Lamb to the Slaughter and The Speckled Band how do the writers explore the genre of the murder mystery story? To what extent is each story a reflection of the society in which it was written? In Roald Dahl's Lamb to the Slaughterand Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Speckled Band the authors apply many of the stereotypes and common knowledge to their work. For example, in Lamb to the Slaughter noone thinks it could possibly be the poor, little housewife. Likewise the Victorian views are heavily ingrained in The Speckled Band, if someone looks evil then they are. However, though both stories have had these things injected into them, that which has been injected into one is very different from the other gained. They came from completely different times and were written for audiences with very different tastes in literature. The two stories begin in vastly different ways, though both set the scenes, the Dahl story sets it in a short and concise paragraph while Doyle's nearly takes a whole page and shows you Dr Watson looking back on the distant past while Dahl sets the scene as the more recent past. Lamb to the Slaughter is very unique when compared to other stories and Dahl well deserves his title of Master of the Macarbe. He challenges our preconceptions by adding a comic twist to the end of the story,this being when "Mary Maloney began to giggle". This twist
Comparing the Build up of Suspense in "Lamb to the Slaughter" and "The Speckled Band".
Comparing the Build up of Suspense in "Lamb to the Slaughter" and "The Speckled Band" "Lamb to the Slaughter", written by Roald Dahl in the mid 20th century and "The Speckled Band", written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in the late 19th century, both use techniques to build up suspense found common among crime stories. However, whereas "The Speckled Band" has all of the elements of a classic crime story, clues, detectives, murder, mystery, resolution and victims "Lamb to the Slaughter" does not, "Lamb to the Slaughter" is without the element of resolution, although this does not dramatically effect the build up suspense as the murderer is almost caught. To analyse suspense first we must understand what it is. A definition of suspense: state of uncertainty, especially while awaiting news, an event etc.; anxiety, worry. Within all crime stories a crime must take place, hence the name of the genre. When there is a suspicious situation, the reader's mind automatically thinks of the most negative possible outcome of the situation, this is human nature. Human nature in conjunction with the fact that a crime must take place creates anxiety and worry in a situation where the outcome is uncertain this causes the reader to read out of curiosity, which builds up suspense. Dahl uses particular techniques to create suspense in "Lamb to the Slaughter", to keep the reader on the edge of their
A comparison of two short stories from the murder mystery genre
A comparison of two short stories from the murder mystery genre "The Speckled Band" was written in 1892 by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle "Lamb To The Slaughter" was written in 1954 by Roald Dahl A murder mystery is a narrative about a murder and how the murderer is discovered. The following things usually happen or are present in a murder mystery: murder, mystery, investigation, red herrings, tension, detective (seeks a solution and unravels the mystery), resolution and justice. Both 'Lamb to the Slaughter' and 'The Speckled Band' are detective murder mysteries. They share some resemblance to the genre but have many differences. In my essay, I will talk about these and say how they affect the story. By reading both stories it is easy to say that the language styles have changed over the eras. 'The Speckled Band' was written in the Victorian period. It uses complex words such as 'defray' and 'dog-cart', which you would not use in the twenty-first century. Some of the sentences are very verbose and stretch from three to four lines long, which is unusual in modern stories. There are phrases like 'said he' which nowadays would be 'he said'. Another example is 'But have you told me all?' A modern way to express this is 'But have you told me everything?' He also uses archaic language as the setting develops. In contrast the language Roald Dahl uses is more modern. He does not use
Comparison of 'Lamb to the Slaughter' and 'The Speckled Band'.
Comparison of 'Lamb to the Slaughter' and 'The Speckled Band' In this essay I am going to compare the similarities and differences in 'The Speckled Band' and 'Lamb To The slaughter'. I will focus on key points of murder mysteries such as; the plot, characterisation, setting, and how the author creates suspense for the reader. Typical ingredients of a murder mystery is that there's the murder, the murderer, the victim, suspects, detectives and or police men, clues; some of these will maybe be red herrings to try and throw the view off the scent, and the motive. One of the short stories I am comparing is 'The Speckled Band'; this was written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and was published in 1892. A brief synopsis of the story is that the female protagonist (Helen Stoner) sister (Julia Stoner) has died is suspicious circumstances with no clues left. The main suspect is her step father (Dr Roylott) who is trying to inherit the money left to the by their mother. Sherlock Holmes is hired to investigate. The other story is 'Lamb to the Slaughter'; this was written by Roald Dahl and published in 1954. A brief synopsis of the story is that the female protagonist (Mary Maloney) being the stereotypical housewife, and waiting for her husband (Patrick Maloney) to return. He returns; he has to tell her something tells her and she starts acting strange. She carries on as normal and goes to
Analytical essay on Roald Dahl's 'The Landlady'.
Christina Sophonpanich 9L 16th September 2003 Analytical essay on Roald Dahl's 'The Landlady' During our past few lessons of English, we have read the story 'The Landlady' By Roald Dahl. A short, unusual and exciting story, it is about a seventeen-year-old handsome boy called Billy Weaver, who has been sent to Bath by his boss. It is his first time in Bath, and he is completely unfamiliar with the whole place. As he wonders about the dark, empty streets of Bath, looking for a pub to stay in, he is captivated by a very pleasant looking boarding house. Peering into the window, he sees animals sleeping in the cozy room and is compelled to ring the doorbell, even though he would rather stay at a pub, and allows himself to be persuaded to stay by a sweet, gentle-looking old woman who seems quite mad but harmless. The woman is so incredibly eager for Billy to stay, and keeps hinting about how she already knew he was coming and how everything was ready for him. Billy dismisses this as nothing but kindness, and reassures himself several times that the boarding house was fine and that the woman had probably just lost a son in war and never quite got over it. When he signs the guest book, he notices that there are only two other entries, and the last one was made over two years ago. Surprised
Compare and Contrast the two short stories Lamb to the slaughter(1954) and The Adventure of the Speckled Band (1892).
Compare and Contrast the two short stories Lamb to the slaughter(1954) and The Adventure of the Speckled Band(1892) 'Lamb to the Slaughter' was written by Roald Dahl in 1954. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote 'The Speckled Band' in 1892. His stories are about the famous detective Sherlock Holmes. Before readings this story I knew that Sherlock Holmes was a famous detective working with fellow college Doctor Watson and Scotland Yard. The victim in 'Lamb to the Slaughter' is Patrick Maloney. He was married to Mary Maloney. He was killed when Mary Maloney hit him over the head with a leg of lamb. We started to suspect something was wrong when quoted "on the evening of his death Patrick Maloney did an unusual thing. He finished his drink very quickly and then poured himself out another very strong one." Another clue that may suggest that something is wrong is that he takes a long time to reply to his wife "he didn't answer", "Her eyes waited on him for an answer, a smile, a little nod, but he made no sign." "He had finished the second drink and was staring down into the glass, frowning." In the 'Speckled Band' the victim is Miss Helen Stoner. When we first see her in the story she was wearing black, veiled and grey haired. She was shivering and terrified "we could see that she was indeed in a pitiable state of agitation, her face all drawn and grey, with a restless